More than a third of patients waited more than four hours in a Lincolnshire A&E last month.

The latest NHS figures show the winter crisis is continuing, with just 62.2 per cent of patients waiting less than four hours from arrival to admission, discharge or transfer in major A&Es run by United Lincolnshire Hospitals, the trust’s worst performance since the measure began to be recorded on a monthly basis in June 2015. The trust runs hospitals in Lincoln, Boston and Grantham.

Boston Pilgrim Hospital

For all A&Es and emergency care run by the trust, 65.2 per cent of patients waited less than four hours, also the lowest performance since at least June 2015.

Currently the agreed A&E recovery plan is for the majority of NHS trusts to be hitting the 95 per cent A&E waiting time target by March 2019.

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Simon Evans, director of operations at ULHT, said: “Like many NHS trusts we have been under extreme pressure this winter with lots of very sick people visiting our A&Es and being admitted to our hospitals.

“This also coincided with the extreme weather conditions during the month, which prevented us from getting patients home which caused delays in admitting patients from our emergency departments. At one of our hospitals we even set up a convoy of snow ploughs, tractors and ambulances in a push to get people home.

There is still room for improvement at Lincoln County Hospital

“As part of our winter plan we have employed more doctors and nurses to help us cope, we have seven day therapy services to get patients home sooner and we scheduled fewer planned operations. But the demand and weather conditions have impacted on our March A&E performance.

“I would like to thank our staff for all of their hard work and ask for the community’s support. If people come to A&E and it is not an emergency they will have a long wait as we will prioritise the sickest patients. Our advice is please consider if you could be helped by visiting your local pharmacy, by contacting your GP, or visiting an urgent care centre.

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“If you do become unwell and need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency, call NHS 111 for clinical advice, assessment and for direction to the most appropriate services for treatment.”

Across England, in March, just 86.4 per cent of patients waited less than four hours in A&E from arrival to discharge, admission or transfer, the worst performance since records began in August 2010.

Nearly a quarter of patients in major A&Es, 23.6 per cent, waited over four hours, with 76.4 per cent waiting less than four hours, also a record poor performance, with the number of patients spending more than four hours in this type of A&E topping 300,000 for the first time.

Performance has deteriorated dramatically from last March, when 90 per cent of patients waited less than four hours in all A&Es and 85.1 per cent waited less than four hours in major A&Es. The target is 95 per cent.

Grantham A&E

The BMA said the figures showed the ‘winter crisis has been replaced by a year-round crisis.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “This is unacceptable and simply cannot become the new normal for the NHS. The government’s approach of cash top-ups and short-term fixes will no longer do.

“Given the Prime Minister’s recent pledge for a long-term funding plan for the NHS, we need the government to urgently translate this into tangible action with new investment. Failure to do so will undermine the delivery of safe, high quality and timely patient care.”

President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Taj Hassan, said patients were continuing to pay the price of years of under-resourcing.

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He said: “Recent comments from the Government about an increase in funding are very welcome, yet it is disappointing that we have had to get to this point for any meaningful action to even be considered.

“The pattern of decline has been evident for years and we, among others, have repeatedly pointed to it along with solutions to the worsening problems facing our departments and health service.

“Yet warnings have gone unheeded. This should be the final wake-up call for decision makers and ministers. Patients are getting sicker and we do not have enough staff or beds to be able to treat them in a timely manner, and with the dignity they deserve.

“The cries for help from the sector should’ve been enough to elicit change. The evidence that change is needed is plain for all to see but has continually been ignored by those that can do something about it.”